In business, we all dream about boom times where even a new guy can make it big and quick. But, in real life, success in business depends on how you handle the lean times. Lean times are times when labor is not readily available, or when customers are hard to come by. Do you learn more efficient ways of retaining customers? Do you find ways to give your customer better service or a better deal? Do you find better ways of attracting talent?
In my personal business, I think I learned a lot more when times were tough. In my Notary directory career, I started in a boom time. Everyone made money without even trying. As a result, I didn’t learn the maximally efficient ways to get clients, or what the best pricing strategy was. As I went along, and business was rough, I got more and more intricate and complicated in my pricing strategy by really taking a closer look. I also learned that having a successful directory depends on having great listings. If you have a bad service provider, even if the listing looks good on cyber-paper, it will still be a bad listing. So, I learned to be good at assessing people’s personality, their work, and other factors using analytics and click tracking. The result of all of the things I learned was that I now know how to run a much better directory than I did seven years ago, and I am getting four times the traffic as well! But, the point I’m trying to make is that my best learning took place when business was horrible.
So, when business is bad, don’t cry. Don’t say, “if only the market would pick up.” Learn to create the right strategies for different market conditions and just ride whatever wave you are on!